What will Anaheim do?
Coming off having the worst record in the NHL last season, the Anaheim Ducks head into the offseason in decent shape. They have a plethora of young talent on the roster, hold the second overall pick in the upcoming NHL Draft and have a good amount of cap space. But how the team will use their cap space is the real question for many that cover the team
Harman Dayal and Sean Gentille of The Athletic ranked each NHL team on their cap space situation entering the offseason and Anaheim came in as the fourth best situation.
-The big question for the Ducks is how they plan on leveraging their flexibility. Last summer, Pat Verbeek was active in free agency, signing Ryan Strome, John Klingberg and Frank Vatrano. Klingberg was a poor fit from Day 1 and Strome underwhelmed in the first season of his five-year contract. Will that make Verbeek more conservative in free agency this time? Will he try poaching sweeteners from other teams to take on bad short-term contracts?
The Ducks are projected to have about $20 million to spend this offseason and can do some damage with that. However, they need to decide what direction to take.
Do they go out and make win-now moves with so much young talent and a brand new first time head coach in Greg Cronin? Or will they take the conservative route and build this team up slowly?
Either way General Manager Pat Verbeek chooses could be seen as the correct decision. After all, the Ducks haven't seen the postseason since 2018 so they need to start winning now. But at the same time, Verbeek knows that he wants to build a consistent winner and now just a one or two year hit.
Anaheim has some real decisions to make that will directly impact the future of the franchise. It's exciting times out in Orange County for the first time in awhile and Ducks fans can rejoice at it.